November 5, 2006, Tough day
My day (a 5:12 finish in the ING New York City Marathon, respectable by my standards, though a little disappointing after a 2:16, 2:17 first half, though still better than last week by 15 or 16 minutes)... was, regardless of aches, pains and blisters... still quite better than Saddam Hussein's.
In the most unsurprising verdict in the history of unsurprising verdicts, the former Iraqi dictator was sentenced to death by hanging for his role in the crackdown of the Shiite town of Dujail following a 1982 assassination attempt on him. The trial was marked with replacing judges for expressions of possible fairness, the murders of three defense lawyers and a legal assistant, and dubious connections of the Dujail atrocities to Saddam Hussein himself.
But the show trial must go on, and after all, you can't expect John Kerry to give the GOP something to talk about every day, can you? The timing of the verdict was, to say the least, delayed... for maximum impact on the American election.
Too late. It shouldn't effect so much as a single House seat, let alone any Senate seats, where the three main contenders (MO, TN and VA) include two rather conservative Democrats... and a former admiral.
But it was a good try; you do have to admire Karl's stick-to-itiveness...